Harry Potter Fic--In Vino Veritas (2/6: Sherry)
This six part fic was written for the smrw_ficafest for orkyd.
I realized I never posted it here at my own comm, so here it is!
Title: In Vino Veritas (Part 2/6: Sherry)
Author: i_am_girlfriday
Date: 7/28/09
Word Count: 3,234
Rating: PG-13, eventually R
Warnings: Tame teenage horniness, mentions of Scorpius/OFC and Rose/OMC
Summary: Rose tries her hand at teaching and reminisces about her feelings for Scorpius.
Author's Note: Thank you to my betas, nebakanezer, nowgold, and birdseyeview for encouragement.
After one drink and a very long trek down memory lane, Rose managed to fall asleep. She only slept for a few hours and woke up at four in the morning covered in a cold sweat. She got out of bed, showered, and dressed. She felt completely dehydrated and her stomach churned from nerves. She decided to skip her usual coffee and fix some tea and toast. At five Rose made her way toward the North Tower. She hadn't been up there since she had graduated and it brought back a lot of memories she hadn't realized she'd been hanging onto. She wondered what state her former professor had left things. Rose climbed the rope ladder and discovered the classroom was left relatively organized. Rose set to work immediately rearranging tables, dusting shelves, examining the glass jars and their contents. At half past seven Rose sat at the large desk and opened the teaching edition of the textbook. She found a Dicta Quill and began to organize her lesson plans for her third, fourth, and fifth year students. She would see them Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for hour-long lessons. She would work with her sixth and seventh year students on Tuesdays and Thursdays for two hour long lessons. By eight o’clock Rose was in need of a break. She headed off to the Great Hall for a cup of coffee and some eggs. She took a seat at the end of one of the long tables, away from the few teachers who were congregating toward the middle. She looked around at the other professors--mostly the Heads of House who were mingling with students and distributing timetables. She unconsciously kept looking at the entrance.
"Looking for someone?" Calista Smith, History of Magic Professor, asked in a conspiratorial voice.
Rose blushed. "No, just tired and I guess I'm looking off in a daze." She insisted. Rose grabbed a scone from the basket on the table and stuffed her mouth with it. She chewed animatedly. Calista smiled and started talking about her summer, but after a few more minutes Rose stood abruptly.
"I'm so sorry. I don't meant to be rude, but I've got first day jitters. Will you excuse me?" Rose turned without waiting for a reply.
She walked quickly back toward her tower but then decided to meander around the grounds a bit. She wasn't nervous about class, but she was unsettled about seeing Scorpius. After walking aimlessly for a few minutes she ended up about five meters from the object of her discontent. Rose spotted Scorpius’s blonde hair glinting in the morning sun. He was working by the stables. He wore work boots, plain trousers, and had a pair of dragon hide gloves dangling from his pocket. His ensemble differed from the other professors who wore formal robes. Rose thought that perhaps the billowy fabric was impractical for such physically demanding work
Rose believed whole-heartedly that Scorpius’s job suited him well. He was quite shy around people when they were younger. As a kid he'd spent all his time alone, isolated from kids his own age, in the company of his pets. He'd had peacocks, a ferret, two Crups, three Kneazles, and a snake. Though he eventually warmed to people, he still preferred the company of his pets. In contrast, Rose had grown up around numerous relatives, and while she found no trouble asserting herself among her relatives and family friends, Rose was aloof around her peers. She preferred to the watch action and observe characters from a distance rather than dive into the mix.
Rose sighed. It was difficult for her to be this close to Scorpius and yet not even try to talk to him. Ten years ago she would have felt compelled to pick up a shovel and help. But now she felt nothing except sadness as she watched him. Rose was transfixed by Scorpius’s strong back and toned arms as he cleaned out the stables. The ten or so years had been good to his physique. He’d always been a head or more shorter than Rose, but he seemed to rival her now in height. Even though he could use a wand and a few Scouring and Banishing Charms, he continued to shovel manually. It made Rose smile. She bet it was the simple, menial exercise that kept him so fit.
***
Though Rose physically matured at fourteen, she did not become comfortable in her adult body until she was well out of Hogwarts. She knew she was the object of desire for many of the boys, and while it might have thrilled some girls her age, Rose was happy playing Gobstones with Scorpius by the lake and getting dirty when she tagged along with him when he volunteered to clean out the stables.
She would have been content continuing on that way in her seventh year, but her empathic ability made it impossible for her to spend that much time alone with Scorpius. She was accustomed to his ridiculous crush on Chantal Featherstone. Initially she found Scorpius’s crush humorous. Rose adored her friend, but she didn’t think he had a shot with Chantal. Chantal had had a string of boyfriends since their fourth year, and the closest Scorpius had ever come to relationship experience was kissing a few classmates while playing Spin the Bottle. She wasn’t used to feeling his every randy teenage impulse. When he looked at Chantal, Scorpius was overcome and it mortified Rose. She couldn’t tell him that she felt everything he was feeling, so she’d been very vague when she told him about her burgeoning ability. She did not discuss it at length with anyone besides Seer Appleby. Even her parents did not understand the full extent of her gift. Rose never knew she had a knack for duplicity, but she suspected it was another trait that made her strategy skills so effective.
Rose mastered cool indifference, even when she was subjected to Scorpius’s fiery hot urges. She wondered how it was possible to look so much like her mother and father and yet have none of their personality. She was not brave, passionate, or expressive. Rose never found the courage to tell Scorpius how much it pained her to know his feelings for another girl. She kept her unrequited affection in check. And she never made effusive speeches to convince him that Chantal was undeserving.
He had come back to school during their seventh year with a better hair cut, a squarer jaw, and broader shoulders; though he had yet to go through a substantial growth spurt, Scorpius was bigger than Chantal, who was a mere wisp of a thing. The more Rose felt Scorpius’s feelings for Chantal, the more disgusted she became. She wondered how he ever got any studying done when all the blood was rushing in the wrong direction. Rose could only maintain stoicism for so long. After an hour with him leering at Chantal, Rose would have to excuse herself, and not even the coldest shower could calm her down.
Rose knew she wasn’t just jealous, she felt something akin to slighted. What did Chantal have that Rose didn’t? She certainly wasn’t the sharpest wand in the shop. She was cute with her bouncy blonde hair, and her petite frame. Rose wasn’t one to brag, but she had heard what boys had said about her -- legs to there and stacked. (It was nicer than what the girls called her.) Not that Scorpius could be arsed to notice either way.
Rose would huff about her room and chide herself for thinking she deserved his attention. She and Scorpius were best friends; that was it. Of course Scorpius wasn’t affected by Rose’s attributes. The idea of liking her as more than a friend clearly repulsed him. He was protective of her like a brother, but this line of thinking didn’t help. Rose had Hugo; she also had plenty of male cousins. She didn’t want just another chum.
Any advantage Rose had in being an Empath was negated by the fact that she also knew exactly how people felt about her. She knew which boys felt attracted to her, but she also knew she made them very nervous and extremely uncomfortable. If towering over most boys wasn’t enough to deter them from asking her out, she’d earned a reputation for being a bit of a freak. Gossip got around that Rose was some sort of mind reader. Growing up as a child of two war heroes had taught her sensationalism always won out over truth so there was no point in trying to correct anyone.
Rose missed the closeness she had shared with her parents. They had been her biggest supporters as she navigated life as a young Empath. Rose’s mother was worried and wrote to her frequently during her seventh year. Her mother had told Rose about the kinds of rumors she and her uncle Harry had to endure as teens. Knowing that her mother’s name had landed in the Daily Prophet for supposedly dating her Uncle Harry and her Uncle Viktor gave Rose a modicum of hope that she too would weather the storm of her new found fame. Her father also did his part to ease Rose’s worries. He was a sweet man, and however dense he had been in his youth he’d turned out quite observant as an adult. He noticed that things had changed between Rose and Scorpius. When Rose came home for the Christmas holidays he’d taken her aside, and gently told her that jealousy was bad for the Weasley complexion. He assured her that things always worked out as they ought. Rose had hugged him and laughed. They had indeed worked out in her dad’s favor--Harry had married her Aunt Ginny, and Viktor had fallen in love with her Uncle Charlie. And lucky for Rose and Hugo, her mother happily began a relationship with their dad.
Ron and Hermione may have been friends first, then lovers, but things hadn’t worked out like that for Rose and Scorpius. As a teenager Rose wished for someone to want her the way Scorpius wanted Chantal: with reckless abandon and against all sense and reason. It was only hindsight that told her she didn’t want just anyone, she never had. She had wanted Scorpius all along.
***
Rose wondered if her mother or father had ever regretted telling her all those years ago that negative press could be overcome and that things between her and Scorpius would work out. Rose sighed again and shifted her weight from her right foot to her left and the subtle movement caused a twig beneath her foot to snap. The sound alerted Scorpius and he turned around. He was surprised to find Rose standing so close. She hastily retreated the way she had come and did not turn back to see his expression, but she did hear her him call her name. "Rose!" But she refused to heed his call. She ran to the North Tower, more shaken up than she was before her walk.
The morning Divination classes went fine, almost without a hitch, but Rose didn't exactly have a plan, so she didn't give herself too much credit. By the afternoon, her classes became a little bit more rowdy. Her second to last class of the day -- filled with boisterous Gryffindors and chatty Ravenclaws -- was the worst. One student in particular, Ralph McMahon, snickered at every direction Rose gave the class of fifth-years and encouraged general mayhem. He was undermining Roses' authority and she knew better than to let him carry on any longer.
"Excuse me, Ralph, did you have something to say about usage of coriander in reading entrails?"
Ralph grumbled something inaudible to Rose, but apparently devastatingly witty to a group of Ravenclaw girls in the front of the room.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for Ralph talking in class and interrupting the lesson."
The girls stopped giggling long enough to gloat at Ralph’s punishment.
"Five points from Ravenclaw for interrupting the lesson as well." Rose challenged them with a glare.
A boy from the back shot out of his chair. "That's not fair! Gryffindor lost ten points and you only took away five from Ravenclaw--"
"--This is my classroom,” Rose looked down at her seating chart, "Antonio, and I will be the judge of what's fair. Now if everyone is quite through, can we please settle down and get back to--"
"--Is it true you were an Unspeakable and you got sacked?" Ralph interjected.
Rose ground her teeth and thought for half a second how to respond. "If I was an Unspeakable, the very nature of my job would prohibit me from answering your question. Now, another ten points from Gryffindor for that and another ten from both houses for continually encouraging Ralph's bad behavior. We have another thirty minutes to go. Shall we continue on in this vein for the entire duration of the lesson? Because I can go on and on deducting house points."
The class fell silent. Rose flicked her want to display the house points overhead. "Hufflepuff is in the lead with one hundred points, followed by Slytherin with ninety. Ravenclaw has thirty and Gryffindor has ten. Not a good start on the first day..."
The class shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Rose pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her temples. It was going to be a long week.
After class let out, Rose tidied up her desk and tried to regain some semblance of composure. She had a free period during the last time block so she spent the hour working on lesson plans. It was only her first day and already one of her biggest fears had been realized. Her students had embarrassed her by asking her why she’d been let go from her job at the Department of Mysteries. In some ways it felt like a relief; it was done with.
An hour or so passed before Rose was startled by the sound of a voice. "Knock, knock." Headmaster Longbottom peered at her from the top rung of the rope ladder. "Okay if I come up?"
“Of course!” Rose tried to smile and act excited.
"So how was your first day?" Neville asked as he took a seat at one of the small round tables.
"Why, what did you hear?" She arched an eyebrow.
Neville laughed. "News travels fast around here."
"Hmph. More like good gossip." Rose rolled her eyes and went to the cupboard behind her desk. After rummaging through it she laughed and held up a glass bottle. “Headmaster, may I pour you a drink?”
“What is that?”
“The ubiquitous sherry decanter! How long do you think this has been a staple in the Divination classroom?”
“At least since my days. They say that Professor Trelawny was a fan of the sauce.”
“Just a nip before dinner, then.” Rose took out two tulip-shaped sherry glasses and poured a little in each. She took a drink of the dry wine and felt the tension in her temples ease a bit.
"You’ll be pleased to know that Ralphie was bragging to a bunch of the Slytherins in between class so I took away more points and I'm making him serve detention for a week."
“You always were my favorite!” Rose said gratefully.
“Rose, seriously, how are you settling in?”
“Okay, but it’s only been a day. I honestly don’t know how you have energy for kids! I’m knackered.” Rose collapsed into a chair next to him. She was overwhelmed with the myriad of emotions she’d been subjected to by her many students.
“You’ll get used to it.”
There was a long silence. Rose felt Neville’s awkwardness. He desperately wanted to say something, but held back. Rose suspected it had something to do with Scorpius.
She sighed. “Just say whatever it is you want to say.”
Neville guffawed. “I always marvel at your gift, and yet when it’s used on me I am totally shocked.”
“You’re an easy one to pick up on.”
“Why, not much going on up there?” Neville pointed to his head. “Totally empty, save random factoids on rare plants?”
“No, not that at all. You’re easy to read because you are completely without artifice.” Rose smiled and let him continue to believe that she could read thoughts. It was easier and more convenient than trying to explain herself.
“Oh all right. Well, since you brought it up... I guess I was just wondering if you’ve spoken to Scorpius?”
“No, unless you want to count our very stunned greeting in the Great Hall last night.”
“Honestly, I had no idea when I offered you the job that you were unaware that he was part of the faculty. I knew, vaguely, that you two were no longer close, but I didn’t realize you were totally out of touch.”
“It’s better this way probably.”
“Do you think?”
“If I’d known, I might have turned down the job and I’d still be unemployed and living with my parents.”
“Rose...” Neville sympathized.
“Come off it, Neville. I was a sad sack. But look at me now! I’ve got gainful employment molding the minds of the next generation!” Rose could barely hide her sarcasm.
“I really am so pleased that you accepted my offer--“
“--And not just because Professor Gray up and retired with almost no notice?”
“No, not just because of that. You have a true gift, and if your former employers don’t see that, then all the better for me and the students of Hogwarts.” Her headmaster beamed with pride.
Rose felt a bit of her cynicism wither away under the glorious kindness from one of her dearest family friends and mentors. “I’ll try to do you proud then.”
“Let’s toast to that then.” Neville raised his glass and finished it off.
Neville got up from his chair and patted Rose gently on the back. Rose stood and hugged him tightly. She wasn’t usually affectionate, but Neville reminded her how much she missed her family.
Rose had immersed herself in training right after finishing up at Hogwarts and had spent the past decade developing her successful career within the Department of Mysteries. Most of her relationships with her relatives and family friends had suffered, and she'd always passed it off as a hazard of her job as an Unspeakable. But how was it she had missed the news over the past few years that Scorpius was teaching at Hogwarts? Since when did Albus or Hugo or any of her cousins stop mentioning mutual friends? Rose thought about it and couldn’t remember the last lunch out she’d had with Roxanne, the last drink she’d had with James, or the last time she floo-called Lily.
It had been about three months since Rose had moved out of the terraced house in Muggle London that she’d shared with her boyfriend of five years. She was not proud of the shut-in she’d become, but cloistering herself away in the house full of antiques had been easy. Alex’s bronze statues, paintings, and embroidered ottomans didn’t have feelings, or wear down her defenses. Alex let her be independent, and when they were together, his feelings were calm, even, and perhaps dull in comparison to everyone else. Though she didn’t ever pine for Alex, she did miss the numb tranquility.
I realized I never posted it here at my own comm, so here it is!
Title: In Vino Veritas (Part 2/6: Sherry)
Author: i_am_girlfriday
Date: 7/28/09
Word Count: 3,234
Rating: PG-13, eventually R
Warnings: Tame teenage horniness, mentions of Scorpius/OFC and Rose/OMC
Summary: Rose tries her hand at teaching and reminisces about her feelings for Scorpius.
Author's Note: Thank you to my betas, nebakanezer, nowgold, and birdseyeview for encouragement.
After one drink and a very long trek down memory lane, Rose managed to fall asleep. She only slept for a few hours and woke up at four in the morning covered in a cold sweat. She got out of bed, showered, and dressed. She felt completely dehydrated and her stomach churned from nerves. She decided to skip her usual coffee and fix some tea and toast. At five Rose made her way toward the North Tower. She hadn't been up there since she had graduated and it brought back a lot of memories she hadn't realized she'd been hanging onto. She wondered what state her former professor had left things. Rose climbed the rope ladder and discovered the classroom was left relatively organized. Rose set to work immediately rearranging tables, dusting shelves, examining the glass jars and their contents. At half past seven Rose sat at the large desk and opened the teaching edition of the textbook. She found a Dicta Quill and began to organize her lesson plans for her third, fourth, and fifth year students. She would see them Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for hour-long lessons. She would work with her sixth and seventh year students on Tuesdays and Thursdays for two hour long lessons. By eight o’clock Rose was in need of a break. She headed off to the Great Hall for a cup of coffee and some eggs. She took a seat at the end of one of the long tables, away from the few teachers who were congregating toward the middle. She looked around at the other professors--mostly the Heads of House who were mingling with students and distributing timetables. She unconsciously kept looking at the entrance.
"Looking for someone?" Calista Smith, History of Magic Professor, asked in a conspiratorial voice.
Rose blushed. "No, just tired and I guess I'm looking off in a daze." She insisted. Rose grabbed a scone from the basket on the table and stuffed her mouth with it. She chewed animatedly. Calista smiled and started talking about her summer, but after a few more minutes Rose stood abruptly.
"I'm so sorry. I don't meant to be rude, but I've got first day jitters. Will you excuse me?" Rose turned without waiting for a reply.
She walked quickly back toward her tower but then decided to meander around the grounds a bit. She wasn't nervous about class, but she was unsettled about seeing Scorpius. After walking aimlessly for a few minutes she ended up about five meters from the object of her discontent. Rose spotted Scorpius’s blonde hair glinting in the morning sun. He was working by the stables. He wore work boots, plain trousers, and had a pair of dragon hide gloves dangling from his pocket. His ensemble differed from the other professors who wore formal robes. Rose thought that perhaps the billowy fabric was impractical for such physically demanding work
Rose believed whole-heartedly that Scorpius’s job suited him well. He was quite shy around people when they were younger. As a kid he'd spent all his time alone, isolated from kids his own age, in the company of his pets. He'd had peacocks, a ferret, two Crups, three Kneazles, and a snake. Though he eventually warmed to people, he still preferred the company of his pets. In contrast, Rose had grown up around numerous relatives, and while she found no trouble asserting herself among her relatives and family friends, Rose was aloof around her peers. She preferred to the watch action and observe characters from a distance rather than dive into the mix.
Rose sighed. It was difficult for her to be this close to Scorpius and yet not even try to talk to him. Ten years ago she would have felt compelled to pick up a shovel and help. But now she felt nothing except sadness as she watched him. Rose was transfixed by Scorpius’s strong back and toned arms as he cleaned out the stables. The ten or so years had been good to his physique. He’d always been a head or more shorter than Rose, but he seemed to rival her now in height. Even though he could use a wand and a few Scouring and Banishing Charms, he continued to shovel manually. It made Rose smile. She bet it was the simple, menial exercise that kept him so fit.
***
Though Rose physically matured at fourteen, she did not become comfortable in her adult body until she was well out of Hogwarts. She knew she was the object of desire for many of the boys, and while it might have thrilled some girls her age, Rose was happy playing Gobstones with Scorpius by the lake and getting dirty when she tagged along with him when he volunteered to clean out the stables.
She would have been content continuing on that way in her seventh year, but her empathic ability made it impossible for her to spend that much time alone with Scorpius. She was accustomed to his ridiculous crush on Chantal Featherstone. Initially she found Scorpius’s crush humorous. Rose adored her friend, but she didn’t think he had a shot with Chantal. Chantal had had a string of boyfriends since their fourth year, and the closest Scorpius had ever come to relationship experience was kissing a few classmates while playing Spin the Bottle. She wasn’t used to feeling his every randy teenage impulse. When he looked at Chantal, Scorpius was overcome and it mortified Rose. She couldn’t tell him that she felt everything he was feeling, so she’d been very vague when she told him about her burgeoning ability. She did not discuss it at length with anyone besides Seer Appleby. Even her parents did not understand the full extent of her gift. Rose never knew she had a knack for duplicity, but she suspected it was another trait that made her strategy skills so effective.
Rose mastered cool indifference, even when she was subjected to Scorpius’s fiery hot urges. She wondered how it was possible to look so much like her mother and father and yet have none of their personality. She was not brave, passionate, or expressive. Rose never found the courage to tell Scorpius how much it pained her to know his feelings for another girl. She kept her unrequited affection in check. And she never made effusive speeches to convince him that Chantal was undeserving.
He had come back to school during their seventh year with a better hair cut, a squarer jaw, and broader shoulders; though he had yet to go through a substantial growth spurt, Scorpius was bigger than Chantal, who was a mere wisp of a thing. The more Rose felt Scorpius’s feelings for Chantal, the more disgusted she became. She wondered how he ever got any studying done when all the blood was rushing in the wrong direction. Rose could only maintain stoicism for so long. After an hour with him leering at Chantal, Rose would have to excuse herself, and not even the coldest shower could calm her down.
Rose knew she wasn’t just jealous, she felt something akin to slighted. What did Chantal have that Rose didn’t? She certainly wasn’t the sharpest wand in the shop. She was cute with her bouncy blonde hair, and her petite frame. Rose wasn’t one to brag, but she had heard what boys had said about her -- legs to there and stacked. (It was nicer than what the girls called her.) Not that Scorpius could be arsed to notice either way.
Rose would huff about her room and chide herself for thinking she deserved his attention. She and Scorpius were best friends; that was it. Of course Scorpius wasn’t affected by Rose’s attributes. The idea of liking her as more than a friend clearly repulsed him. He was protective of her like a brother, but this line of thinking didn’t help. Rose had Hugo; she also had plenty of male cousins. She didn’t want just another chum.
Any advantage Rose had in being an Empath was negated by the fact that she also knew exactly how people felt about her. She knew which boys felt attracted to her, but she also knew she made them very nervous and extremely uncomfortable. If towering over most boys wasn’t enough to deter them from asking her out, she’d earned a reputation for being a bit of a freak. Gossip got around that Rose was some sort of mind reader. Growing up as a child of two war heroes had taught her sensationalism always won out over truth so there was no point in trying to correct anyone.
Rose missed the closeness she had shared with her parents. They had been her biggest supporters as she navigated life as a young Empath. Rose’s mother was worried and wrote to her frequently during her seventh year. Her mother had told Rose about the kinds of rumors she and her uncle Harry had to endure as teens. Knowing that her mother’s name had landed in the Daily Prophet for supposedly dating her Uncle Harry and her Uncle Viktor gave Rose a modicum of hope that she too would weather the storm of her new found fame. Her father also did his part to ease Rose’s worries. He was a sweet man, and however dense he had been in his youth he’d turned out quite observant as an adult. He noticed that things had changed between Rose and Scorpius. When Rose came home for the Christmas holidays he’d taken her aside, and gently told her that jealousy was bad for the Weasley complexion. He assured her that things always worked out as they ought. Rose had hugged him and laughed. They had indeed worked out in her dad’s favor--Harry had married her Aunt Ginny, and Viktor had fallen in love with her Uncle Charlie. And lucky for Rose and Hugo, her mother happily began a relationship with their dad.
Ron and Hermione may have been friends first, then lovers, but things hadn’t worked out like that for Rose and Scorpius. As a teenager Rose wished for someone to want her the way Scorpius wanted Chantal: with reckless abandon and against all sense and reason. It was only hindsight that told her she didn’t want just anyone, she never had. She had wanted Scorpius all along.
***
Rose wondered if her mother or father had ever regretted telling her all those years ago that negative press could be overcome and that things between her and Scorpius would work out. Rose sighed again and shifted her weight from her right foot to her left and the subtle movement caused a twig beneath her foot to snap. The sound alerted Scorpius and he turned around. He was surprised to find Rose standing so close. She hastily retreated the way she had come and did not turn back to see his expression, but she did hear her him call her name. "Rose!" But she refused to heed his call. She ran to the North Tower, more shaken up than she was before her walk.
The morning Divination classes went fine, almost without a hitch, but Rose didn't exactly have a plan, so she didn't give herself too much credit. By the afternoon, her classes became a little bit more rowdy. Her second to last class of the day -- filled with boisterous Gryffindors and chatty Ravenclaws -- was the worst. One student in particular, Ralph McMahon, snickered at every direction Rose gave the class of fifth-years and encouraged general mayhem. He was undermining Roses' authority and she knew better than to let him carry on any longer.
"Excuse me, Ralph, did you have something to say about usage of coriander in reading entrails?"
Ralph grumbled something inaudible to Rose, but apparently devastatingly witty to a group of Ravenclaw girls in the front of the room.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for Ralph talking in class and interrupting the lesson."
The girls stopped giggling long enough to gloat at Ralph’s punishment.
"Five points from Ravenclaw for interrupting the lesson as well." Rose challenged them with a glare.
A boy from the back shot out of his chair. "That's not fair! Gryffindor lost ten points and you only took away five from Ravenclaw--"
"--This is my classroom,” Rose looked down at her seating chart, "Antonio, and I will be the judge of what's fair. Now if everyone is quite through, can we please settle down and get back to--"
"--Is it true you were an Unspeakable and you got sacked?" Ralph interjected.
Rose ground her teeth and thought for half a second how to respond. "If I was an Unspeakable, the very nature of my job would prohibit me from answering your question. Now, another ten points from Gryffindor for that and another ten from both houses for continually encouraging Ralph's bad behavior. We have another thirty minutes to go. Shall we continue on in this vein for the entire duration of the lesson? Because I can go on and on deducting house points."
The class fell silent. Rose flicked her want to display the house points overhead. "Hufflepuff is in the lead with one hundred points, followed by Slytherin with ninety. Ravenclaw has thirty and Gryffindor has ten. Not a good start on the first day..."
The class shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Rose pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her temples. It was going to be a long week.
After class let out, Rose tidied up her desk and tried to regain some semblance of composure. She had a free period during the last time block so she spent the hour working on lesson plans. It was only her first day and already one of her biggest fears had been realized. Her students had embarrassed her by asking her why she’d been let go from her job at the Department of Mysteries. In some ways it felt like a relief; it was done with.
An hour or so passed before Rose was startled by the sound of a voice. "Knock, knock." Headmaster Longbottom peered at her from the top rung of the rope ladder. "Okay if I come up?"
“Of course!” Rose tried to smile and act excited.
"So how was your first day?" Neville asked as he took a seat at one of the small round tables.
"Why, what did you hear?" She arched an eyebrow.
Neville laughed. "News travels fast around here."
"Hmph. More like good gossip." Rose rolled her eyes and went to the cupboard behind her desk. After rummaging through it she laughed and held up a glass bottle. “Headmaster, may I pour you a drink?”
“What is that?”
“The ubiquitous sherry decanter! How long do you think this has been a staple in the Divination classroom?”
“At least since my days. They say that Professor Trelawny was a fan of the sauce.”
“Just a nip before dinner, then.” Rose took out two tulip-shaped sherry glasses and poured a little in each. She took a drink of the dry wine and felt the tension in her temples ease a bit.
"You’ll be pleased to know that Ralphie was bragging to a bunch of the Slytherins in between class so I took away more points and I'm making him serve detention for a week."
“You always were my favorite!” Rose said gratefully.
“Rose, seriously, how are you settling in?”
“Okay, but it’s only been a day. I honestly don’t know how you have energy for kids! I’m knackered.” Rose collapsed into a chair next to him. She was overwhelmed with the myriad of emotions she’d been subjected to by her many students.
“You’ll get used to it.”
There was a long silence. Rose felt Neville’s awkwardness. He desperately wanted to say something, but held back. Rose suspected it had something to do with Scorpius.
She sighed. “Just say whatever it is you want to say.”
Neville guffawed. “I always marvel at your gift, and yet when it’s used on me I am totally shocked.”
“You’re an easy one to pick up on.”
“Why, not much going on up there?” Neville pointed to his head. “Totally empty, save random factoids on rare plants?”
“No, not that at all. You’re easy to read because you are completely without artifice.” Rose smiled and let him continue to believe that she could read thoughts. It was easier and more convenient than trying to explain herself.
“Oh all right. Well, since you brought it up... I guess I was just wondering if you’ve spoken to Scorpius?”
“No, unless you want to count our very stunned greeting in the Great Hall last night.”
“Honestly, I had no idea when I offered you the job that you were unaware that he was part of the faculty. I knew, vaguely, that you two were no longer close, but I didn’t realize you were totally out of touch.”
“It’s better this way probably.”
“Do you think?”
“If I’d known, I might have turned down the job and I’d still be unemployed and living with my parents.”
“Rose...” Neville sympathized.
“Come off it, Neville. I was a sad sack. But look at me now! I’ve got gainful employment molding the minds of the next generation!” Rose could barely hide her sarcasm.
“I really am so pleased that you accepted my offer--“
“--And not just because Professor Gray up and retired with almost no notice?”
“No, not just because of that. You have a true gift, and if your former employers don’t see that, then all the better for me and the students of Hogwarts.” Her headmaster beamed with pride.
Rose felt a bit of her cynicism wither away under the glorious kindness from one of her dearest family friends and mentors. “I’ll try to do you proud then.”
“Let’s toast to that then.” Neville raised his glass and finished it off.
Neville got up from his chair and patted Rose gently on the back. Rose stood and hugged him tightly. She wasn’t usually affectionate, but Neville reminded her how much she missed her family.
Rose had immersed herself in training right after finishing up at Hogwarts and had spent the past decade developing her successful career within the Department of Mysteries. Most of her relationships with her relatives and family friends had suffered, and she'd always passed it off as a hazard of her job as an Unspeakable. But how was it she had missed the news over the past few years that Scorpius was teaching at Hogwarts? Since when did Albus or Hugo or any of her cousins stop mentioning mutual friends? Rose thought about it and couldn’t remember the last lunch out she’d had with Roxanne, the last drink she’d had with James, or the last time she floo-called Lily.
It had been about three months since Rose had moved out of the terraced house in Muggle London that she’d shared with her boyfriend of five years. She was not proud of the shut-in she’d become, but cloistering herself away in the house full of antiques had been easy. Alex’s bronze statues, paintings, and embroidered ottomans didn’t have feelings, or wear down her defenses. Alex let her be independent, and when they were together, his feelings were calm, even, and perhaps dull in comparison to everyone else. Though she didn’t ever pine for Alex, she did miss the numb tranquility.